DANGEROUS WATERS: AMERICA S COAL ASH CRISIS

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1 Seattle Olympia Portland Salem Helena Bismarck Augusta Montpelier San Francisco San Jose Sacramento Carson City Boise Salt Lake City Denver Cheyenne Pierre Lincoln Topeka Saint Paul Des Moines Jefferson City Madison Milwaukee Lansing Detroit Chicago Columbus Springfield Indianapolis Charleston Frankfort Concord Boston Albany Providence Hartford New York Trenton Harrisburg Philadelphia Baltimore Dover Annapolis Richmond Potential Disasters Los Angeles San Diego Phoenix Santa Fe Oklahoma City Little Rock Memphis Nashville Atlanta Columbia Charlotte Raleigh SPILL SITES El Paso Dallas Jackson Montgomery HIGH HAZARD Austin Houston Baton Rouge Tallahassee Jacksonville San Antonio Coal ash waste ponds *The EPA now assigns hazard ratings to coal ash ponds: high hazard indicates that an impoundment failure would likely cause loss of human life; significant hazard indicates that an impoundment failure would cause significant economic, environmental, or infrastructure damage. Visit to view an interactive map of these sites. DANGEROUS WATERS: AMERICA S COAL ASH CRISIS Each year, coal-fired power plants in the United States produce 140 million tons of hazardous solid waste, known as coal ash. Much of this waste is stored in more than 1,400 sites in 45 states. Coal ash pits vary widely, based on whether waste is stored in ponds (wet impoundments) or landfills (dry impoundments) as well as on their size and the level of hazard they present to human life. Coal ash pits often reside adjacent to the power plants that produces their toxic contents. Because vast quantities of water are consumed in coal power generation, these power plants lie beside large sources of water, including our Great Lakes, aquifers, and many of our most important and iconic rivers. Coal ash is the byproduct of coal combustion mixed with other hazardous compounds including those used to clean coal furnaces (imagine oven cleaner on an industrial scale). As technology has allowed power plants to capture more hazardous pollutants that would have gone into our air, these toxins including mercury and arsenic increasingly become part of the solid waste mixture that is coal ash. We have essentially traded one form of toxic pollution for another. The Risks of Coal Ash When coal ash spills, leaks or leaches into nearby groundwater or waterways, the toxins contained within pose serious health risks to nearby communities. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that living near certain coal ash ponds is significantly more dangerous than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. A person living within one mile of an unlined coal ash pond that co-disposes of coal refuse has a 1 in 50 lifetime risk of cancer more than 2,000 times higher than the EPA goal for cancer risk. According to the EPA, 1.54 million American children live near coal ash storage sites. 1 Coal ash contains many toxic contaminants, including arsenic, lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and 1

2 selenium, as well as aluminum, barium, boron, and chlorine. These toxins can cause cancer, heart damage, lung disease, respiratory distress, kidney disease, reproductive problems, gastrointestinal illness, birth defects, and impaired bone growth in children. In short, coal ash toxics have the potential to damage every one of our major organ systems. No Federal Safeguards Incredibly, there are no federal standards for the storage and disposal of coal ash to protect communities and waterways from coal ash pollution; no federal standards exist for monitoring groundwater or reporting coal ash pit integrity or pollution. What exists in place of a strong, uniform standard is a disjoined and ineffective jumble of state-based regulations. Many coal ash dumps lack basic safety features and regular inspections, leaving communities at risk of largescale disasters like those in Kingston, Tennessee (see box: The Kingston Disaster) and North Carolina (see section: The Dan River Spill). Far more common than a full impoundment failure, however, are the unreported slow leaching of coal ash and pond overflows that pollute our water. Many states do not require owners to line coal ash ponds or monitor nearby groundwater. The EPA has confirmed water contamination from coal ash in every state where coal ash is stored more than 200 cases in all. However, because there are no federal standards to require reporting, the full picture of coal ash pollution and the damage it causes remains murky. Public Demand for Coal Ash Protections As part of a settlement with affected communities and environmental groups, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must finalize new federal standards for the disposal of coal ash by the end of Communities on the frontlines of the coal ash fight, as well as public health and environmental groups, are calling for strong, federally enforceable protections for public health and safety. These safeguards should include: Phasing out dangerous wet impoundments and cleaning up and closing existing ponds; Ensuring coal ash landfills are properly lined and that groundwater around the sites is monitored for contamination; The Kingston Disaster On December 22, 2008, a massive coal ash dam failed at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tennessee, releasing a river of toxic coal ash sludge into the surrounding community. In what is the largest toxic waste spill in U.S. history, 1.1 billion gallons of toxic sludge poured across 300 acres of land, damaging or destroying 40 homes, and polluting the Emory and Clinch Rivers. Already the Tennessee Valley Authority has spent more than $1 billion in clean-up efforts, and the total economic impact of the spill is estimated at upwards of $3 billion. Requiring owners to clean up coal ash contamination before it enters drinking water and waterways; Requiring owners to provide financial assurance in order to protect the community and taxpayers from the cost of cleanup. 2

3 aha coln peka Des Moines Kansas City Independence Cedar Rapids Overland Park Potential Disasters Jefferson City SPILL SITES Madison Rockford Chicago Naperville Aurora Gary Peoria Springfield Saint Louis Milwaukee Evansville Grand Rapids Sterling Heights Lansing Warren Livonia Detroit Ann Arbor Columbus Dayton Indianapolis Cincinnati Louisville Frankfort Toledo Fort Wayne Lexington Cleveland Akron Erie Pittsbur Charles lsa nd s HIGH HAZARD Coal Springfield ash waste ponds The Toxic Legacy of Coal Ash in ILLINOIS Knoxville With 58 operating coal ash dams and 15 legacy ponds Nashville that still pose a danger to adjacent communities, Illinois ranks first in the nation in total number of coal ash ponds. Taking only active coal ash ponds into account, Chattanooga Memphis Illinois ranks second in total surface area for its coal ash ponds with over 3.3 Huntsville square miles of coal ash wet impoundments. After EPA inspections of 38 Little Rock Illinois coal ash ponds for structural stability, the agency rated 16 ponds in Atlanta the state in poor condition. Only 3 of the 38 ponds inspected were rated Birmingham satisfactory. State protections for Illinois communities from these numerous large coal ash sites and the substantial threat Shreveport to health they pose, however, are sorely lacking. State regulation does not require liners or groundwater Jackson Augusta Macon state that have been studied. Harmful pollutants discovered at these sites include arsenic, Columbus boron, chloride, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, Montgomery nitrate, elevated ph, selenium, sulfate, and thallium. 2 monitoring for all coal ash sites, and the Illinois Sites where contamination has been found are Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) recently found Powerton Station, Duck Creek Station, Hennepin Power that only a third of the state s coal ash ponds are lined Station, Havana Power Plant, Vermillion Power Station, Jackso or monitored. Hutsonville Power Station, Wood Tallahassee Mobile River Power Station, A 2010 IEPA assessment categorized Baton Rouge 10 active coal ash Coffeen/White & Brewer Fly Ash Landfill, Lakeside sites in Illinois as having high to Lafayette very high potential Power Station, Joppa Power Station, Prairie Power Pearl to contaminate Beaumont nearby drinking water sources. Coal Station, Ameren-Meredosia, Waukegan, Venice Plant, New Orleans Houston ash has already been found to have contaminated and Joliet 29, Marion Plant, and Joliet 9 Generating Pasadena groundwater countless times at all 15 site across the Station. 3 Winsto Colum 3 Clearwater

4 State Regulation PONDS Landfills Groundwater Monitoring Required for All New and Existing Sites Liners Required for New Sites* Site Construction in Water Table Prohibited* Financial Assurance Required *Required on an ad hoc basis but not uniformly by law. Following major coal ash spills in Tennessee and North Carolina, the IEPA is moving forward with new rules for coal ash ponds. However, the state s proposed rules fall short of protecting Illinois communities from the serious harm that coal ash pits pose. For example, while the rules would require a facility to take corrective action if a site is found to be contaminating groundwater, they would not require that the site be closed. Further, the rules would not require complete removal of waste when a coal ash pit is retired. Many of the state s coal ash pits are located in floodplains or other sensitive areas. Allowing toxic coal ash to remain, rather than requiring it be moved to lined landfills, represents an unacceptable risk to nearby communities. Local activists and environmental groups in the state have also called for owners to provide financial assurances for all coal ash pits, so communities don t get stuck with the bill for cleanup along with a phase out of coal ash wet storage and a move to dry landfill storage; an assessment of all sites for potential breaches and dam failures; and greater public engagement including public comment on plans to correct and close pits, and public IEPA meetings to address community concerns. 4 antimony, boron, chloride, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nitrate, selenium, sulfate, and thallium in groundwater resources. Coal ash throughout Illinois, and in particular at the E.D. Edwards coal plant owned by Dynegy (detailed in the following section of this report), pose serious concerns for public health and the safety of our waterways, groundwater, and drinking water sources. The ongoing challenges that communities face in remedying the problem of coal ash pollution in Illinois and in all states where coal ash is stored point to the need for strong federal safeguards. ILLINOIS: Snapshot of Coal Ash Risks & Regulation Number of Coal Ash Ponds 84 High-Hazard Sites 2 Significant Hazard Sites 22 Due to documented water impacts and lax regulation, Sierra Club, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Prairie Rivers Network, and Citizens Against Ruining the Environment filed legal action before Illinois Pollution Control Board to force plant operators to clean up ash ponds that are causing unsafe levels of arsenic, Documented Cases of Water Contamination or Spills 20 4

5 Disaster Waiting to Happen: The E.D. Edwards Coal Plant The outdated and unlined E.D. Edwards coal-fired power plant in Bartonville, owned by Dynegy, lies on the banks of the Illinois River. It has operated for more than 50 years and still pollutes central Illinois communities including Peoria, Bartonville, Pekin and East Peoria. Throughout its half century of operations, the E.D. Edwards plant has stored large amounts of coal ash dangerously close to the Illinois River. The accumulated toxic coal ash currently sits in an 89-acre, 32-footdeep pond near the plant and has caused documented groundwater contamination around the site. This legacy of pollution has left the Illinois River impaired for mercury, leading the state of Illinois to post fish consumption warnings. 5 It is disheartening to know that polluters are given a free pass to discharge toxic metals into our waterways. The Illinois River, Pekin Lake and our other local fishing spots define summertime here in Peoria. We boat, we fish and we recreate in that water. Right now, the fish that come from the Illinois River is too dangerous to eat. Our families and our rivers deserve better than toxic pollution. Jacob Leibel, Peoria Resident and member of the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance By the companies own reported data, the E.D. Edwards plant discharges over four million gallons of coal ash wastewater into the Illinois River each day. The ash discharge a cocktail of bottom ash and fly ash carries with it toxic metals like metals like arsenic, lead and mercury. To date, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has failed to place limits under the plants water discharge permit on the amount of dangerous heavy metal pollution that the E.D. Edwards plant can send from its ash ponds into the river. 6 Ash Pond Safety Risks The Illinois River is already designated as an impaired waterway because of mercury contamination. Active coal-fired power plants are the largest sources of these toxic pollutants nationally. The E.D. Edwards coal plant sits on the Illinois River upstream from recreational areas where families gather, including Pekin Lake and fishing sites along both sides of 5

6 E.W. edwards s Coal Ash Pond Number of Coal Ash Ponds 1 587,000,000 Total Known Capacity gallons 7 Hazard Level Signficiant 8 because the coal ash pit at Dynegy s retired Vermillion coal plant is also fouling local water. In the company s quarterly report to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in summer 2013, Dynegy explained that it has been doing hydrogeologic investigations at the Vermilion coal plant site, and results have shown that the coal ash pits are affecting groundwater in the area. 9 This leaking coal ash pit is also close to Illinois only National Scenic Waterway, the Middle Fork Vermilion River. Known Groundwater Contamination USEPA Geologic Vulnerability Rating Dam Safety Permit Required for Pit? Sulfate, iron, manganese Very High No Residents across the State of Illinois have been spurred to action after witnessing the coal ash catastrophe unfold along the Dan River in North Carolina. In order to keep the burden of cleanup off the shoulders of small Illinois communities, a strong state coal ash rule that will determine how and when utilities close and clean up dangerous coal ash pits is vital. USEPA Potable Well Contamination Potential High the river. The Edwards plant puts the health of families who enjoy Peoria s resources at risk by discharging toxic polluted water. Uncertainty About the Future, Dynegy s Response to a Potential Coal Ash Disaster Dynegy, a Texas-based energy company, took over ownership of the E.D. Edwards coal plant in late 2013 after decades of ownership by Ameren. Dynegy requested a variance from the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) to have until 2020 to comply with Illinois Multi-Pollutant Standard, established in 2006 to require reductions in life-threatening air pollution from Illinois coal plants. The company claimed that complying with Illinois common-sense clean air standard would cause it undue financial hardship. The IPCB voted three to one in favor of granting the variance, with the dissenting opinion of IPCB Chair Deanna Glosser doubting Dynegy s claims of financial hardship. Dynegy s history of bankruptcy and mismanagement begs the question of how the company would financially or environmentally handle a coal ash disaster at the E.D. Edwards coal ash pit. Local residents are wary of Dynegy s track record for coal ash in the State of Illinois At statewide hearings on the Illinois coal ash rule, residents living in near coal ash pits have asked the IPCB to require the removal of coal ash from failing pits to high and dry landfills, allow for the assessment and prevention of damage to rivers and lakes, and provide more opportunity for public input. They are also urging a requirement that power companies provide financial assurances so that taxpayers aren t left paying the bill for coal ash disaster clean-up. Illinoisans and all Americans deserve strong, federally enforceable coal ash protections. They will continue to work for change at the state level, but the U.S Environmental Protection Agency must act to protect the health, safety and financial future of all communities put at risk from coal ash pollution. Illinois s aging coal ash pits were built in places they never should have been over mine voids and in floodplains of rivers. Our state can t afford to take on the liability and expense for more groundwater contamination from ash pits or clean up after one of these toxic dinosaurs collapses into one of our rivers. Governor Quinn and our state regulators have the opportunity right now to enact rules that will prevent disaster and ensure the utilities are taking responsibility. Traci Barkley, Water Resources Scientist with Prairie Rivers Network 6

7 Madison Rockford Chicago Naperville Aurora Gary Peoria Springfield Saint Louis Milwaukee Evansville Grand Rapids Sterling Heights Lansing Warren Livonia Detroit Ann Arbor Columbus Dayton Indianapolis Cincinnati Louisville Frankfort Toledo Fort Wayne Lexington Cleveland Akron Erie Pittsburgh Charleston Potential Disasters SPILL SITES ock The Toxic Legacy of Coal Ash in Indiana Knoxville Nashville Memphis Indiana has some of the weakest protections for residents, property, and water quality from the Huntsville dangers of coal ash. According to Earthjustice: 11 coal ash and to require appropriate safeguards, such as pond liners to protect groundwater, Birmingham groundwater monitoring, regular inspections, emergency response plans, and design of levees and dams by professional engineers. Jackson Chattanooga Greensboro Winston-Salem Coal-fired power plants in the Hoosier State produce a whopping 9.5 million tons of coal ash waste each year, making it second in the nation in the amount of coal ash it generates. Indiana has more operating coal ash ponds than any other state in the nation State regulations fail to require the safe disposal of Charlotte contamination is among the worst in the nation: 15 Columbia contaminated sites and spills, including a Superfund site involving contaminated wells in the Town of Pines that has still Atlanta not been cleaned up. Augusta The state has an alarmingly poor record of coal ash dam safety and water contamination, lacking many basic protections against coal Macon ash pollution. In fact, of the 41 coal ash dams inspected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Indiana, 25 (60 percent) were rated in Columbus poor condition. Savannah Montgomery 7 2. Indiana s record of spills and drinking water HIGH HAZARD Coal ash waste ponds

8 State Regulation PONDS Landfills Groundwater Monitoring Required for All New and Existing Sites Liners Required for New Sites Site Construction in Water Table Prohibited Financial Assurance Required There have been two major spills from coal ash ponds at the Eagle Valley Generating Station in Martinsville (each involving upwards of 30 million gallons of contaminated water) and two spills at the R.M. Schahfer in Wheatfield. Coal ash pollution has contaminated groundwater at 11 sites, including at the Town of Pines, where leaking coal ash from a nearby pond contaminated drinking water with arsenic, boron, molybdenum and other toxic substances, requiring installation of a public water system and leading to the town being designated a federal Superfund site. Safeguards to protect the public from coal ash disasters like those that took place in Tennessee and North Carolina are nonexistent in Indiana. Indiana has no requirement that coal ash dams be designed by a professional engineer, no requirement to inspect dams, no reporting requirements, no inundation mapping in case of floods, no requirement for emergency action plans, and no financial assurance requirements. Similarly, state law fails to protect drinking water and surface water from the leaching of toxic chemicals from coal ash. The state does not require groundwater monitoring or liners at all ponds and landfills. Regulations even fail to prohibit dumping of coal ash directly into the water table. 12 Indiana s 11 documented cases of water contamination by coal ash pollution, the poisoning of an entire town s drinking water, its four large ash pond spills, and 25 coal ash dams with poor ratings are the direct result of the state s lack of safeguards. You will also read in the following section about the risks to the health and safety of surrounding community posed by the Harding Street Station in Indianapolis. Together these sites and dangerous coal ash sites across the country show the need for strong, federally enforceable protections Ash Pond 4A - Inlet/Outlet to Ash Pond 4B at Southeastern Corner Indiana: of Pond, Snapshot Damage to 30-inch-Diameter of CMP Visible Coal Ash Risks & Regulation Number of Coal Ash Ponds High-Hazard Sites 5 78 Significant Hazard Sites 37 Documented Cases of Water Contamination or Spills 15 8

9 Disaster Waiting to Happen: Harding Street Coal Ash For more than 50 years, Indianapolis Power & Light s (IPL) Harding Street coal-burning power plant has sent toxic pollution into the air, land, and water of Indiana s largest urban area. Located just 15 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, IPL s Harding Street plant is the biggest polluter in Marion County responsible for 88 percent of industrial toxic emissions reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency s Toxic Release Inventory. 13 More than 35,000 people live within three miles of the plant. 14 For as long as IPL has been burning coal on the south side of Indianapolis, it has been dumping toxic coal ash waste into unlined ponds located adjacent to the Harding Street plant. The plant s five coal ash ponds, two of which are rated high hazard by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their potential to cause loss of human life in the event of a dam breach, sit just a stone s throw from the White River and lie upstream from nearby neighborhoods. According to EPA records, above-ground levees holding back the coal ash are more than 17,000 feet long and up to 48 feet high. 15 When full, the ponds could contain more than 310 million gallons of coal ash and contaminated water. 16 Threats to Drinking Water Though the Harding Street plant has long disposed of its waste in coal ash ponds, IPL does not monitor groundwater adjacent to these ponds or report results to state or federal agencies. Historic records from the Marion County Public Health Department show groundwater contamination in monitoring wells at the perimeter of the ash ponds in the 1980s. 17 According to J. Russell Boulding, a geologist hired by the Hoosier Environmental Council, concentrations of arsenic were twice the EPA standard for drinking water and mercury levels were 20 times the standard. Boron results were three times EPA s child health advisory for drinking water. 18 9

10 The nearest residential area, a neighborhood known as Sunshine Gardens, is located only 1.5 miles downstream from the Harding Street Station coal ash ponds. Many residents of this neighborhood rely on groundwater wells for their drinking and household water. The water wells used by residents of this neighborhood are located in the same White River outwash aquifer that lies below the Harding Street Station. Hoosier Environmental Council The high concentrations of signature coal ash contaminants arsenic and boron dating from the late 1980s suggest that contaminants have been migrating from the ash ponds for a considerable amount of time, Boulding said in his March 2014 report. Given the highly permeable character of the sand and gravel aquifer, contaminants may have migrated well beyond the perimeter monitoring wells in the [past] twenty-five years. Boulding concluded that contamination could potentially have spread to private drinking water wells in the Sunshine Gardens neighborhood and could even pose a threat to the city s major drinking water wells nearby. In April, the Marion County Public Health Department agreed to test private wells in the area for boron, a marker of coal ash contamination. 21 The Sierra Club is calling for further investigation to determine the extent of groundwater contamination under the ponds and how far it has traveled. Residents have a right to know whether their drinking water is contaminated today and, if not, that it will be protected from future spread of contamination. Dangerous High Hazard Ponds Between 2009 and 2013, the EPA launched investigations into the structural safety of coal ash ponds nationwide. 22 The assessment rated two Harding Street coal ash ponds as high hazard and rated all six Harding Street coal ash ponds in poor condition. Despite experiencing two 30-million-gallon coal ash slurry spills at its Martinsville power plant in 2007 and 2008, IPL had no written maintenance program and no emergency action plan for the Harding Street ash ponds in According to the engineering consulting firm CDM, which conducted the assessment for EPA, a breach at Pond 2 or Pond 4 could cause property damage at an adjacent stone quarry and possibly result in quarry worker s loss of life. A failure of ash ponds 2 or 3 also could send toxic coal ash into Lick Creek and White River, harming the river environment and potentially causing property damage or loss of life in communities downstream. 23 The Harding Street coal ash ponds are located in the White River s 100-year flood plain, which is connected to the city s well-field protection areas downstream. According to the Hoosier Environmental Council, a large flood could wash coal ash pollutants into surrounding neighborhoods and the well-field protection area, which is designed to protect groundwater that supplies drinking water throughout the city. 24 Mercury-Contaminated Fish Fish in the White River are already contaminated with mercury, making many fish unsafe for children and young women to eat. 25,26 Pollution controls that will reduce mercury coming from power plant smokestacks will transfer more mercury into coal ash waste, putting White River and other waterways at even greater risk if coal ash is not safely handled and disposed in ways that don t contaminate Indiana s water. 27 The Harding Street Station coal ash ponds Number of Coal Ash Ponds Total Known Capacity 8 310,000,000 gallons 19 Hazard Level High (Ponds 2 and 4) 20 Known Groundwater Contamination High levels of mercury, arsenic and boron 10

11 gfield Saint Louis Evansville Columbus Dayton Indianapolis Cincinnati Louisville Frankfort Lexington Charleston Arlin Alex Richmo Knoxville Nashville The Toxic Legacy of Coal Ash in Kentucky Charlotte Birmingham Yet, state agencies that should be protecting the health of residents from coal ash toxins require virtually no take human lives Macon in the event of failure. safeguards at coal ash sites. Incredibly, 20 of the state s Groundwater contamination from coal ash dumping 48 coal ash dams were not designed by professional has already been documented at five sites in Kentucky, engineers. Only 32 of Kentucky s dams have been Columbus Savannah including high levels of arsenic, boron, manganese, inspected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Montgomery Agency (EPA) Jackson to date, and power plant owners admit engineers Kentucky: Snapshot of do not presently monitor 30 of the 48 dams. 28 Coal Ash Risks & Regulation with expired licenses. Historically, operators have not always been required Mobile to provide financial assurances in the event of a spill, potentially leaving Kentuckians on the hook for the cost of cleanup. Kentucky regulation does not require emergency action plans or inundation New Orleans maps (that show how the surrounding communities would be affected by a dam breach). These represent an incredible failure of oversight, especially given the Augusta Greensboro Durha HIGH HAZARD Winston-Salem Ra Coal ash waste ponds Kentucky is both a leading coal-burning and coal ash producing state, Chattanooga generating more than nine million tons of toxic coal ash annually. The state is Memphis home to 48 coal ash ponds, eight of which Huntsville are rated high hazard. Kentucky has the third largest coal ash storage capacity in the nation Columbia 64,000 acrefeet or enough toxic sludge to cover the Churchill Downs Racetrack, home to Atlanta the Kentucky Derby, under 800 feet of toxic sludge. There are no regular reporting requirements after construction, except for certificate renewal every five years; and coal ash sites have been able to operate Number of 48 Coal Ash Ponds Jacksonville Tallahassee High-Hazard Sites 8 5 Orlando presence of eight high-hazard dams that would likely Significant Hazard Sites 18 Documented Cases of Water Contamination or Spills Potential Disasters SPILL SITES 11 Clearwater Tampa

12 State Regulation PONDS Landfills Groundwater Monitoring Required for All New and Existing Sites Liners Required for New Sites Site Construction in Water Table Prohibited Financial Assurance Required nickel, and sulfate. It is likely that contaminants are present at many more sites but go undetected, because the state does not require liners (that prevent leaching of coal ash toxins into the ground) at all coal ash ponds nor does the state prohibit dumping coal ash waste directly into the water table [See Mill Creek: Disaster in Slow Motion]. 29 Toxic dust from coal ash landfills is also a public health threat to communities near coal plants in Kentucky. The LG&E Cane Run Generating Station near Louisville, KY stores enormous mountains of coal ash on site. For years, toxic dust clouds and odors have blown from facility into the community next to the plant. The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District has repeatedly responded to the toxic dust with notices of violations and fines, but residents continue to be plagued by blowing ash. Because Kentucky regulations do not require groundwater monitoring at all coal ash dump sites, Kentuckians are left in the dark about the full extent of contamination and the risks they face but, according to EPA calculations, coal ash landfills and ponds are responsible for all land releases of arsenic, chromium, and mercury in Kentucky. 30 Because of lax regulation and poor oversight by the state including allowing virtually unlimited discharge of toxic coal ash pollutants and allowing coal ash ponds to operate under long-expired permits 31 Kentuckians are put at significant risk from coal ash pollution. As part of a national investigation, the following section details the coal ash ponds at E.W. Brown Generating Station in Harrodsburg, Kentucky and the risks local families face from these ponds toxic contents. Given the failure of state regulators in Kentucky, and indeed across the United States to create and enforce common-sense safeguards that would protect public health and waterways, it s time for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue strong, federally enforceable protections. Mill Creek: Disaster in Slow Motion Beginning in 2013, time-lapse photography from a camera attached to a tree across the Ohio River from Louisville Gas and Electric s Mill Creek Generating Station captured a year s worth of images showing dangerous coal ash wastewater pouring unabated into the Ohio River. An unlined waste pond storing toxic coal ash is the source of the pollution. The Mill Creek coal plant and its associated coal ash pond are 500 feet from a large residential development and 1,000 feet from a middle school. Despite this close proximity; Kentucky law does not require LG&E to test its coal ash wastewater for toxic pollutants such as mercury. It s devastating to think that this could have been going on for more than 20 years. It s like the North Carolina or West Virginia spills but in slow motion, with no one to stop it. Sierra Club organizer Thomas Pearce, who helped install the hidden camera. 12

13 Piling on a Problem: E.W. Brown s Coal Ash Pond & Proposed Landfill The E.W. Brown Generating Station in Harrodsburg, Kentucky is a nearly 60-year-old coal-burning plant less than 30 miles from Lexington.32 Operated by Kentucky Utilities and owned by Louisville Gas & Electric, the plant maintains a 126-acre main coal ash pond. The massive unlined pond, built with the coal plant in 1957, was an unregulated dumping site for coal ash waste, which is the by-product resulting from burning coal.33 Over the last few years, the pond has stopped receiving highly permeable and vulnerable region, are coal ash, but the site remains unlined and still contains leaking contaminants into the surface and groundwater, about 26 million tons of ash. The E.W. Brown plant and threatening public health and violating state and its coal ash ponds, located over an already fractured, federal laws.34 13

14 Tests on the water show arsenic contamination at more than 14 times the amount determined safe for Kentucky drinking water. About a dozen springs southeast of E.W. Brown s ponds are discharging contaminants into nearby Herrington Lake, which has shown unhealthy levels of mercury. Further, two local springs contained boron at levels exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency s Health Advisory for Children. Herrington Lake flows into the Kentucky River, one of the most polluted waterways in the United States. 35 Dam Safety Risks The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection s Division of Water has also deemed the 126-ft. pond dam a high hazard structure, meaning that if it failed it would cause deaths and seriously damage property and transportation routes. However, Kentucky Utilities has failed to act on this looming threat. 38 Proposed Landfill Kentucky Utilities has proposed to construct a coal ash landfill larger than 105 acres on top of the E.W. Brown s main coal ash pond. 39 The long-term impacts of placing a landfill on top of a coal ash pond are unknown, and the design raises serious questions about long-term stability and continued pollution from the site, especially given the ongoing contamination of the groundwater. The landfill could drive contaminants deeper into the groundwater, making it more difficult to take action and stop the problem. 40 E.W. Brown s Coal Ash Pond Number of Coal Ash Ponds 3 36 Total Known Capacity Undetermined 37 Hazard Level Known Groundwater Contamination A Legacy of Contamination High (2 ponds) Arsenic at more than 14 times safe level, boron, mercury, and selenium Both LG&E and Kentucky Utilities are owned by PP&L (Pennsylvania Power & Light), a large corporate offender that is also responsible for coal ash pollution in Montana at its Colstrip plant. 42 Like E.W. Brown, the Colstrip plant s ponds and containment system have been leaking for decades, contaminating the groundwater. Also in Kentucky, a hidden camera operation revealed that LG&E s Mill Creek plant has been constantly dumping coal ash wastewater into the Ohio River for a year. Google Earth images also show many years worth of snapshots that captured an outflow into the river. 43 What s at Stake? The proposed landfill would pile tens of millions of tons of coal ash on top of the leaking pond, which is less than a quarter of a mile from vacation homes and other residential neighborhoods surrounding the 2,300-acre Herrington Lake. 41 Built by Kentucky Utilities in 1925 as a hydroelectric dam, the lake is now a major recreational and fishing area, drawing families and vacationers seeking to enjoy the marina views, local eateries, boating, and other water sports. 14

15 Omaha Lincoln Topeka Des Moines Kansas City Independence Overland Park Cedar Rapids Jefferson City Springfield Chicago Naperville Aurora Gary Peoria Saint Louis Ind Louisvill F Evansville Wichita Potential Disasters Springfield SPILL SITES Tulsa HIGH HAZARD Nashvil a City Coal ash waste ponds Missouri. Regular state coal ash dam safety inspections Carrollton Plano are Irving not required, nor is groundwater monitoring or Garland Dallas ort Worth liners at all coal ash ponds. Missouri regulations even fail Shreveport to prohibit dumping directly into the water table. Half of Missouri s coal ash dams were not constructed by professional engineers. Waco One of Missouri s 39 coal ash pond dams is rated as a High hazard by the U.S. Environmental Protection Memphis The Toxic Legacy of Coal Ash in Missouri Only the largest, most dangerous of Missouri s 32 coal ash ponds are Little Rock regulated for dam safety. Coal ash ponds with a whopping 170 million gallons of capacity (enough to fill the entire National Mall in Washington D.C. with two feet of coal ash sludge) go virtually unregulated. Key safeguards to protect the public are absent in meaning that remedial action Jackson is needed. Birmingham Agency (EPA), meaning that failure is likely to take human lives, and five are rated as a Significant hazard, meaning that failure would cause economic and/or environmental damage. Six of Missouri s coal ash ponds also have an EPA Condition Assessment of Poor, Missouri is a coal-dependent state with especially lax groundwater monitoring requirements at coal ash ponds. Currently, the state s Department of Natural Hu stin Baton Rouge 15 Lafayette Mobile

16 State Regulation PONDS Landfills Groundwater Monitoring Required for All New and Existing Sites Liners Required for New Sites Site Construction in Water Table Prohibited Financial Assurance Required Resources has not exercised its authority to collect groundwater monitoring data at many coal ash ponds. Without this vital information, local residents are kept in the dark about the extent of potential drinking water contamination and the serious health risks they face. Across state lines in Illinois, where Ameren has dumped coal ash in ponds for decades, monitoring required by the state revealed widespread contamination. There is no distinguishable difference in the type of coal ash ponds operated in Missouri and those in Illinois, but the lack of contamination data in Missouri puts Missourians in relatively greater danger. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) knew as early as 1992 that a 154-acre, unlined coal ash pond at Ameren s Labadie plant the largest coal plant in the state and the 14th largest in the nation had been leaking some 50,000 gallons of coal ash waste per day. It s believed the leaks went on for about two decades before media attention and public pressure triggered Ameren to take steps to address them. Ameren has not stopped the leaking of toxic coal ash at the source but has taken steps to reduce contamination into the environment. cleanup. 44 The following section will detail the risks posed by proposed coal ash landfills at the Labadie site as well as two other Ameren plants, in particular at the Meramec plant. The state s apparent disregard for major health and safety concerns from massive coal ash dump sites and dams across the state is part and parcel of why we need strong, federally enforceable safeguards from coal ash pollution for Missourians and all Americans. Missouri: Snapshot of Coal Ash Risks & Regulation Number of Coal Ash Ponds High-Hazard Sites 1 39 Significant Hazard Sites 5 Documented Cases of Water Contamination or Spills 4 The DNR has not required groundwater monitoring or cleanup, despite the threat to the local population that relies on groundwater for drinking water and agricultural use. The DNR also allowed the plant to continue operating under a 1994 permit, which should have expired in 1999, without issuing an updated renewal permit to require groundwater monitoring and 16

17 Disaster Waiting to Happen: Coal Ash at the Meramec Coal Plant For the past 60 years, utility giant Ameren has dumped coal ash into unlined ponds at the Labadie, Meramec, Rush Island, and Portage Des Sioux coalburning power plants located throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Ameren Corporation is heavily dependent on coal, drawing approximately 80 percent of its power from burning the dirty fossil fuel. Today, Ameren is seeking approval from the Missouri of the Meramec and Mississippi Rivers is particularly Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to build new alarming for area residents. Ameren began dumping coal coal ash landfills at the Labadie, Meramec and Rush ash into unlined ash ponds at the Meramec plant in St. Island power plants. All are located in the floodplains Louis County in Since then, Ameren has used ten of the Missouri, Mississippi and Meramec Rivers. The different ash ponds at the site.45 Of the six ash ponds coal ash landfills at the Meramec and Rush Island plants would be built on top of unlined coal ash ponds where at least one instance of leaking coal ash toxins has already been confirmed. This risky and unprecedented in Missouri approach to coal ash disposal raises serious questions and concerns for the affected communities as well as families across Missouri. The proposal to build a risky new landfill at the aging Meramec coal-fired power plant on the confluence 17 We know that Ameren knows how to look for contamination, and when they look for it they usually find it. Maxine Lipeles, co-director of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University School of Law51

18 remaining in active use, four are unlined and three date to the 1950s. In 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspected the Meramec plant s six active ponds for structural stability and rated them all as poor. 46 Ash pond safety risks DNR has said that it intends to include groundwater monitoring requirements if and when it updates the expired water pollution discharge (NPDES) permits for the Labadie, Meramec, and Rush Island plants. Yet these permits are long expired the Labadie plant expired in 1999, Meramec in 2005, and Rush Island in 2009 and DNR s efforts to issue renewal permits have repeatedly faltered. An Ameren report shows that the company found groundwater contamination at the Meramec site in Ameren s tests detected pollutants associated with coal ash, 48 including iron, boron, and manganese in concentrations that exceeded state limits for groundwater safety. Ameren s contractor even acknowledged that elevated levels of boron indicated that coal ash was leaking from the ponds. 49 This contamination was associated with one of the two ash ponds above which Ameren now proposes to build a coal ash landfill. While that ash pond is now apparently lined, there is no indication that any of the contamination has been cleaned up. Four of the six active ash ponds at the Meramec sites including the other pond above which Ameren seeks to build its proposed coal ash landfill are unlined. 50 The Push for Water Protections in Missouri Continues The fate of Ameren s risky plans to build coal ash landfills on top of already-leaking, outdated ponds rests in the hands of the Missouri DNR. The agency can and should require groundwater monitoring and establish the structural integrity of the underlying ponds before Ameren can take steps to build these landfills. Ameren recently began voluntary groundwater monitoring at Rush Island, in order to develop a closure plan for the ash pond as part of its landfill proposal. DNR has asked for, but not yet received (as of May 2014) the results of the first quarterly groundwater sampling. The Meramec Coal Ash Ponds Number of Coal Ash Ponds Total Known Capacity Hazard Level EPA Condition Assessment Known Groundwater Contamination Dedicated St. Louis residents have fought the risky proposed landfills for years, voicing concerns for the safety of their own groundwater wells that are likely to be contaminated by Ameren s coal ash leakage. In 2013, the Sierra Club and the Labadie Environmental Organization called on DNR to immediately require comprehensive groundwater monitoring of known and likely contamination at Ameren s Labadie, Meramec, and Rush Island coal-fired power plants. 52 In early 2014, the groups brought their concerns to Governor Jay Nixon, calling for a halt to all proposed coal ash landfill permits until comprehensive groundwater monitoring has been conducted at all existing coal ash ponds. Missouri residents will continue to fight for even the most basic information and protection of their health and waterways from coal ash pollution. The longstanding serious concerns raised by Missourians and communities across the country who are put at risk by toxic coal ash show the need for strong, federally enforceable protections ,000,000 gallons 47 Low Poor High levels of iron, boron, and manganese (1988). Current levels unknown due to lack of DNR groundwater monitoring 18

19 Helena ise Potential Disasters SPILL SITES HIGH HAZARD Coal ash waste ponds The Toxic Legacy of Coal Ash in Montana: Montana s coal ash ponds operate without sufficient safeguards and little or no oversight to ensure the health and safety of Montanans are protected. In 2003, the state s already weak standards for coal ash safety were removed entirely for new coal plants when Montana exempted coal-fired power plants Salt Lake City from its Major Facility Siting Act (MFSA). Even Montana s Department of Environmental Quality Provo admits that this absolute lack of coal ash protections for future plants is no longer appropriate. Yet attempts to bring coal ash back under the most basic program of monitoring and safety standards have failed thus far at Cheyenne the state level. Montana has no requirements for liners, Fort Collins groundwater monitoring, preventing leaching of toxic waste, financial assurance or clean up at any new coal ash sites and very limited authority at existing sites like Colstrip. The Colstrip power plant in Rosebud County is Aurora Lakewood Denver 19 Colorado Springs

20 State Regulation PONDS Landfills Groundwater Monitoring Required for All New Sites Liners Required for New Sites Site Construction in Water Table Prohibited Financial Assurance Required the site of most of the coal ash ponds in the state. These ponds are known to have been leaking almost since their inception. The details of the contamination of drinking water of the town of Colstrip and the subsequent legal settlements will be detailed in the following section. Contamination from coal ash sickened residents and continues to pollute ground and surface water near the plant. 53 Montana: Snapshot of Coal Ash Risks & Regulation Number of Coal Ash Ponds High-Hazard Sites 1 17 Significant Hazard Sites 3 Documented Cases of Water Contamination or Spills 6 20

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